Role of Stem Cells in Oral Cancer

Cancer stem cells have been discovered in squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity. In oral cancer, cancer stem cells play a crucial role in tumour development, as well as increased recurrences, acquired treatment resistance, and metastasis. Cancer stem cells have the ability to self-renew and multiply forever, producing progenitor cells and cancer cells that feed tumor growth. Many cancers, including oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma, have been identified as cancer stem cells using specific markers, albeit it's still unclear where these markers fit into the stem cell hierarchy. In the development of cancer, the tumor microenvironment exerts a great deal of pressure. The significance of stem cells in mouth cancer was examined in this article. This is confounded by the presence of many CSC subtypes within OCSCC, which makes the study more difficult. The current state of knowledge in CSC markers SOX2, NANOG, ALDH1, OCT4, phosphorylated STAT3, CD133, CD24, CD44, and Musashi-1 is examined in this study, with an emphasis on their application and validity in Oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma the cancer stem cells research, as well as how they may be grouped into the CSC hierarchy, based on the deployment of a large number of markers. The renin-angiotensin system is also expressed in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma cancer stem cells, suggesting that regulating the RAS with existing medications might be a novel therapeutic target for CSCs.